19. Chapter Nineteen Shattered Illusions
Chapter Nineteen: Shattered Illusions
Tess
Carefully, I turned the lock and twisted open the door, but it crashed into me, the knob bashing painfully into my ribs and knocking me to the floor again. A literal cloud of darkness drifted over me. I threw my arms over my head, curling into the floor.
Then a roar above, a clash of bodies and a crescendo of growls preceded absolute silence, followed by the door slamming closed again.
“Get up!” he shouted, his eyes glowing again.
I didn’t react right away, unsure if it was me he was yelling at. But I viewed his devil-red face—even in the dark, fury etched across his features—and held my breath.
They were gone.
Whoever had tried to storm inside had failed .
It was just him and me again.
“I said get up!” he barked, snatching my arm and yanking me to my feet. When I pulled my hand away, he held both his up, but that indignation remained. “Look. I don’t know why, but I’m not going to let any of those fuckers get you.”
I narrowed my eyes, trying to figure out his logic. It didn’t make sense. If it was anything like this pull I felt toward him, I didn’t know how to reconcile who he was anymore. This was no time for attraction. This was life and death. “That’s the whole point.”
His mouth pulled tight, eyebrows angled. He wasn’t taking any more shit from me. “What’s the whole point?”
“Even if we kill everyone in this place together, it’ll still be down to you against me in the end.”
He groaned, running his hand over the top of his head. “I know that, princess, but we’ll worry about that when we get there.”
The nickname triggered a hot wave of fury through me. I clenched my jaw and glared up at him. “Don’t.”
“Oh, I can see how this relationship is going to go. Don’t what?”
I pointed at him, ignoring the demented man making ridiculous insinuations, and stepped closer. “Do not call me princess. You don’t know me. You don’t know what I’ve been through. I didn’t ask for you to force yourself on me like this.”
He stared at me for a moment, glowing red eyes wide with enthusiasm. Subtle twitches in his eyes and cheeks betrayed a storm of thoughts despite his practiced mask of insanity. Slowly, the corners of his lips seemed to curl impossibly wide from ear to ear. “If I was forcing myself on you, princess, you wouldn’t be complaining so damn much. So keep your mouth shut, or I’ll find a way to muffle it.”
I glared at him, my body temperature boiling with fury, but I tried to focus on keeping my breathing steady.
If he could temper himself, I would, too .
I only needed to stick by him for a while—until we made it to the top twenty-five, maybe.
And with him by my side, I had a better chance of taking out Ivan.
I’d have to find a box of matches, though.
Why hadn’t I brought any?